Religion and Science
- Primula Baggins
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Just keep in mind that at the level of active research, you'll find a lot of papers that contradict each other.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
- Primula Baggins
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Well, that's how it works, Maria: studies conflict, people refine the work, and eventually (ideally) a consensus emerges. The key word being "eventually." The medical books I edit often pronounce issues unresolved that people have been publishing on for decades.
Of course, in some cases that may be because the evidence points one way and the writer's preferred answer points another.
Of course, in some cases that may be because the evidence points one way and the writer's preferred answer points another.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
A good review article can sometimes point to where the consensus is sort of pointed. With an emphasis on "sometimes" and "sort of".
One of my labmates is studying a weird property of DNA. This property was discovered around 15 years ago and over a thousand papers later, no one understands what's really going on. Early last year or late in 2009 (not going to bother finding the citation) someone did an experiment that would supposedly settle the debate. It was hailed as "the smoking gun" in the field. Even my incredibly rigorous labmate was convinced. But then he and my boss thought about it a little bit more and realized that the debate might not be settled after all. So they did another experiment and blew the debate open again.
One of my labmates is studying a weird property of DNA. This property was discovered around 15 years ago and over a thousand papers later, no one understands what's really going on. Early last year or late in 2009 (not going to bother finding the citation) someone did an experiment that would supposedly settle the debate. It was hailed as "the smoking gun" in the field. Even my incredibly rigorous labmate was convinced. But then he and my boss thought about it a little bit more and realized that the debate might not be settled after all. So they did another experiment and blew the debate open again.
When you can do nothing what can you do?
Speed of Light "Broken" by Scientists
This is exciting stuff, and EXACTLY what I was talking about earlier... that nothing postulated by science is exactly sacred (I won't go into the whole evolution thing, since it is so emotionally tied to the creation vs. not-creation debate).
That particular apparently unquestionable fact aside , what I love about science is that it can ALL be questioned. Love, love, love it!
If the speed of light is not a threshhold in physics, as postulated by Mr. Einstein himself in 1905, then a LOT of other ideas are possible. I have no more than the average public school graduate's understanding of Einstein's theory of special relativity, but even *I* am getting goosebumps. If this faster than light experiment ends up holding water, can you imagine what that fact will do to the collective "knowledge" of how the universe works? Why, it's almost like the earth isn't flat, after all!
Golly.
This is exciting stuff, and EXACTLY what I was talking about earlier... that nothing postulated by science is exactly sacred (I won't go into the whole evolution thing, since it is so emotionally tied to the creation vs. not-creation debate).
That particular apparently unquestionable fact aside , what I love about science is that it can ALL be questioned. Love, love, love it!
If the speed of light is not a threshhold in physics, as postulated by Mr. Einstein himself in 1905, then a LOT of other ideas are possible. I have no more than the average public school graduate's understanding of Einstein's theory of special relativity, but even *I* am getting goosebumps. If this faster than light experiment ends up holding water, can you imagine what that fact will do to the collective "knowledge" of how the universe works? Why, it's almost like the earth isn't flat, after all!
Golly.
"What do you fear, lady?" Aragorn asked.
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
"A cage," Éowyn said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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That news report made me sit up too, Anthy. But what struck me was how anxiously the scientists in question wanted their observations to be explained away as a mistake. I think they would be relieved if some error could be discovered. It is this which speaks to the essential honesty of Science.
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Yes, exactly, Tosh. That's exactly how serious scientists go
about overturning existing theories. They don't make one observation and go selling books about how everything we know is wrong. They consider possible errors they made, alternative explanations for the results, and then make all their data to other scientists to recreate the experiment.
And the reaction from science blogs like Bad Astronomy is much like anthy's - it's probably an error in measurements, but if it's right, hey, warp drive!
about overturning existing theories. They don't make one observation and go selling books about how everything we know is wrong. They consider possible errors they made, alternative explanations for the results, and then make all their data to other scientists to recreate the experiment.
And the reaction from science blogs like Bad Astronomy is much like anthy's - it's probably an error in measurements, but if it's right, hey, warp drive!
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
- Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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Well, we'll know (more) in a few years!
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I never understood the idea of the speed of light as a threshold. I mean if the speed of light is a gazillion miles per second then all you'd have to do to go faster is to hit a gazillion and one miles per second, right?
I think Star Trek had it right - the threshold of speed is infinity, the point at which you are, in effect, everywhere at once.
I think Star Trek had it right - the threshold of speed is infinity, the point at which you are, in effect, everywhere at once.
- Primula Baggins
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Except you can't go faster because the equations say that when you hit the speed of light, your mass becomes infinite, your length in the direction of travel becomes zero, and time dilates so much that the universe dies in what is to you a single instant of time. It's not a speed limit; it's the point at which speed becomes meaningless.
Or so we've all thought up until now.
Or so we've all thought up until now.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Given the position I am in right now, I am thinking of poor tenure-track scientists with years of research, under review, to be submitted, which builds on the speed of light physics going "ohmigod, I am so never getting tenure".
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
- Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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Points, lines, and planes are mathematical concepts. A point has no length because if it did, it would be a line. A line has no width because if it did, it would be a plane. A plane has no depth because. . . . etc.
They're all as real as any mathematical idea. And math has a pretty good record at describing reality.
I predict that if there is in fact FTL motion, it will be a special case of relativity that applies only in certain peculiar circumstances, just as relativity itself is a special case of plain Newtonian physics that applies only if you are, for example, approaching the speed of light. Einstein didn't supersede Newton, he just showed what happened to Newton's physics under physical circumstances Newton could not have imagined.
They're all as real as any mathematical idea. And math has a pretty good record at describing reality.
I predict that if there is in fact FTL motion, it will be a special case of relativity that applies only in certain peculiar circumstances, just as relativity itself is a special case of plain Newtonian physics that applies only if you are, for example, approaching the speed of light. Einstein didn't supersede Newton, he just showed what happened to Newton's physics under physical circumstances Newton could not have imagined.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King